406th District Court Judge Oscar Hale Jr. has denied a request from a defense attorney who asked that he suppress evidence in the case against a Laredo OB-GYN accused of possession of child pornography.

The attorney, Uriel Druker, argued that a USB containing child pornography should not be admitted as evidence because it was illegally obtained and that Laredo police saw the contents of the USB without first receiving a search warrant.

OB-GYN Antonio Salinas was arrested in June 2017 and later indicted on 35 counts of possession of child pornography.

In his order on the motion to suppress, Hale first explained the "findings of fact."

On June 12, 2017, Salinas dropped off his Ford F-150 at a car dealership to perform a diagnostic because the "check engine" light was on, the air conditioner was blowing hot air and part of the glove compartment was detached, the order states. The following day, mechanic Octavio Limon, while performing diagnostics on the truck from the truck's driver's seat, connected his computer to the truck's port, according to the order. Eden Salinas, a technician whose dock neighbored Limon's, approached the opened driver's side door to talk to Limon and noticed a USB device among some Splenda packets in an open compartment, Hale wrote.

Curious to find out if there was any music on it, Salinas said he asked Limon to look at the contents of the USB, the court record states.

After plugging in the USB, Limon was able to access images in a file entitled "ZZZZ," according to the order. Limon, sitting in front of his laptop, saw thumbnails of images depicting what he believed were minors in sexual poses with little to no clothing, according to the court order.

Salinas, standing by the open driver's door, also saw the images, the order states.

He informed Alberto Luna that he and Limon had seen child pornography when looking into a USB they obtained from the truck, according to the court records. They asked Luna for help in deciding what action to take.

Luna contacted a friend, who recommended they report their discovery to the police. He called 911 and reported the discovery of child pornography because Limon and Salinas were afraid of losing their jobs, according to court records.

Upon LPD officer David Paz's arrival, Luna informed him that he and Salinas were working on a truck and while checking to see if the truck's USB port was properly working, they connected the USB to determine whether it was the USB port or the USB device that was not working.

Paz was unaware of the employee policy and believed that Luna was being truthful about what was seen on the USB, Hale wrote in the order. He had no cause to believe that the testimony given by Luna, as to the reason for viewing the USB, was untrue, Hale said.

Luna handed the USB to Paz. Paz asked Luna to show him what they had found. Luna, Limon and Salinas led Paz to Limon's computer and connected the USB to it and showed the officer where the child pornographic images had been discovered, according to the order.

Paz confirmed that the USB had about seven images of nude girls between the ages of 11 and 14, the order states.

Paz then removed the USB and contacted his sergeant.

When sergeants Edgar Garza and Cordelia Perez arrived, Paz again connected the USB to Limon's computer and showed them where the child pornography images were located, Hale wrote.

Also, LPD detective Charlie Rosales spoke to Limon and obtained written consent from him to take his computer for forensic analysis, along with the USB containing child pornography, according to the order.

On June 14, 2017, LPD detectives applied for a search warrant to conduct a forensic analysis on the USB and Limon's computer. They then obtained two additional search warrants to search Antonio Salinas' office, 8607 McPherson Road, Suite 101, and his home in the 100 block of Regal Drive.

On June 22, 2017, detectives attempted to execute the search warrant at Salinas' home, but he was not there. Rosales called Salinas on his cellphone and Salinas agreed to meet with him at Doctors Hospital.

At the hospital, Rosales advised Salinas of the investigation, search warrants and that they had found child pornography on his USB taken from his vehicle, Hale wrote in the order. Rosales further advised Salinas that because of what was found on the USB, he had obtained search warrants for his home, office and electronic mobile devices.

Rosales explained to Salinas that the device that downloaded the illicit images found on his USB and his cellphone were subject to the search warrants.

Salinas gave his laptop and cellphone to detectives and he agreed to meet Rosales at LPD headquarters. There, Rosales read Salinas his Miranda warnings and Salinas answered questions in a recorded interview. During the interview, Salinas was equivocal about the USB, saying he did not remember it or that he forgot about any USB containing child pornography, Hale wrote in the court order.

Salinas further detailed how he became involved in viewing these images and videos of child pornography, the frequency of his viewing of child pornography and that he possessed additional child pornography on his computers and other USBs, the order states. After the interview, Salinas was allowed to go home but was advised that LPD would be seeking a warrant authorizing his arrest for possession of child pornography.

Hale concluded that LPD's viewing of the USB was "confirmatory in nature, as it did not exceed the scope of the initial viewing by Sames' employees." Paz didn't need a search warrant because Limon consented to the search of the USB while it was attached to his computer, Hale wrote in his decision.

"Limon's consent was valid because Sames — and by extension its employees — had joint access and control over the defendant's truck and its contents," Hale said. "At the time that the Sames' employees initially viewed the images on the USB they were not acting in concert with the police or for investigative purposes. The confirmatory search of the USB by Officer Paz allowed a valid warrantless seizure of the device because it contained contraband (i.e., child pornography), in plain view, and thus allowed for the USB's immediate seizure by Officer Paz.

"The search LPD conducted pursuant to a search warrant was valid because LPD had probable cause to believe the USB device contained child pornography via the statements made to Officer Paz by the Sames employees and the Officers' subsequent confirmatory searches.

"The subsequent search warrants were valid because LPD developed probable cause by and through the forensic analysis of the USB confirmed that the child pornography within it did not originate from Limon's computer and the USB contained personal images of the defendant."